Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-08-12
BEECHER'S JEWELS.
HIS WONDERFUL AND VARIED COL
LECTION OF PRECIOUS STONES.

Pastor-Beautifui Gems OF All Sorts.
Carrying Them Loose In His Pockets.
Mr.. Beecher's Fine Library.
1t was to learn something in relation to Mr..
Beechers collections that / spent an evening
with Maj. W. {. Beecher at his house on
Columbia Heights. Mai. Beecher is the son
into whose hands the whole matter of dispos-
ing of his fathers effects has been placed.
II suppose said the major taking as he
spoke key ring on which hung five or six
finger rings from his pocket, .you would like
to hear first about fathers gems. Here are n
number Of them set i'll rings, which he used to
carry i'll this way in his pocket You will
notice that they, or most At them, are some
what marked and scratched from constant
rubbing" and Maj. Beecher handed them to
me.
"You will sce." he continued, shat among
them there Is yellow diamond an opal n
hyacinth, sapphires and number of Indian
garnets and topazes. The diamond of
course is the most valuable of the lot. rs il is
remarkably large and fine specimen. Father
cared nothing for white diamonds Color
was everything to him. Color and music had
the same effect upon his nerves that opiates
would have upon those of other men This
particular diamond was brought to him bv n
New York jeweer from Paris, and he WINS
very fond of il. Hyacinths were among his
favorite gems. and that one which YOU have
in your hand was probably the most valuable
one he owned Its color, rich cherry red
is rare. OF the Others the sappbirrs and
topazes. and especially that large oval topoz.
which, rs you see, is nearly the color of n hy-
cinth, appealed most strongly to his sense of
color. Perhaps he had more Indian rarnets
than any other stone One in particular.
which is not among those in your hand.
looked so much like Il ruby that lie often de.
ceiTed jewelers.. Among his unset gems he
had a number OF very beautiful opals and
nmethysts and quantity of small topazes.
tournalines and garnets, many of them being
OF little or no market value
"Thc intrinsic value of a stone was nothing
to him, but its form ard beautv of coIo,.
everything He had no liking for stones TINT
liad been cut for intaglios and canoes; such
were ruined i'll his eyes. Another stone whose
color pleased him intensely was the peridot.
They are of soft green shade. He had four
OF these. The gems | have mentioned a,>,
about all that we have found among his
effects, but they do not begin to give an dea
of the number he has had in his possession
He was in the habit of giving away to his
friends any stone which they happened to ex.
press strong admiration for Wherever h,
went he was well known to the jewelers.. and
they permitted him to take whatever suited
ms fancy. Those he wanted he kept and the
Others he returned. The jewelers. were will
ing that he should do this, not only on ac.
count of their friendship for him. but he.
cause in that way they were able to dispose Of
great many jewels which were purchased
by his friends. He was as we'll known in tho
jewelry stores of San Francisco and Boston
as III those of New York, and whenever n
Jeweler anywhere in the country came into
the possession of n stone which was notobla
Tor its color and form he was pretty ant TO
send it to father. He was an excellent iudoe
OF the gems that he was fond of, and was
often commissioned by friends TO select for
Them
rs it true that he used to carry quantities
of gems loose in his vest pocket.n
Not exactly, though have known him to
have three or four packages of stones iahont
his person at n time. He was more ant to
Keep them IN the compartments of his pocket
book. don't think, outside of the hvacinth
diamond ana opal, which he always carried
mat he ever at any one time had more than
81 ,0Oo or $1,000 worth of gems in his possess
sion. He was apparently very careless of
them, but don't know that he ever lost nny.
friend he would open package of gems and
spread them out in the palm of his hand.
Il remember five or six wears AGO that n
Jeweler III Harlem sent him two opals. One |
was cut gem. which the ieweler called he
Setting SUM-" and was valued at $500 The |
other was rough i'll the matrix, and was |
nearly as large ms n mans hand He kent |
them for several months, and then one day
handed them, wrapped up in n piece of
paper, to me. Here, WILL he said, Il slon't
keep these: you take them back diln,t |
like the idea at all of travelling around with
$1,000 worth of gems in my pocket. and I
was mighty glad when reached Harlem in
safety, can tell you. Father did not wear
jewels Often He had piece of aqua marine. |
winch, by the way, has disappeared. which |
ne sometimes used TO wear in the pulpit of
Iiyihouth church, and splendid opal which I
ne would wear at times when out of the city.
But he was averse to making display of his
Jewels
Il have always understood. Mr.. Beecber
that your father had very fine and complete
He had. There are about 10000 volumes
~ ~ II; ana Tor scope and completeness it is, 1
think. among the finest of the worlds private
libraries. Father did not care for books
simply because they We're rare His was a
working library, and in it were books that
touched upon almost every topic within the
range of thought. Every book that he conlJ
lay his hands upon which threw any new light
upon subject he bought His, theological
library Is naturally the most complete Next
to this, his philosophical library is the most
extensive He had the works of all the Eng
fish scientists and an especially complete col.
lection Of all books on evolution. NOT only
those of Darwin, but also those on the other
side. Spencer and Tyndall were among his
iavorite authors and he had their works en-.
engravlngs, which include copies of ali the
paintings of Dresden Louvre and
other continental galleries Then he Ind
set OF magnificent Shakespearcan illustro-
tions, some 200 in number.
Ai,hougn, as nave said, father did not
care especially for merely rare books. still he
hai many which are extremely rare and val.
hable Among the most notabl. Of th,s,nre
Z IOulns HuriDlii,1r Ri,.l.